There remains a need for compositions, formulations, and methods for treating subjects with cancers such as, for example, basal cell carcinoma, relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL), glioblastoma multiforme, anaplastic astrocytoma, or other advanced solid tumors.
For example, basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a common cancer throughout the world, and its incidence is increasing. In the United States alone, more than 3.5 million new patients are diagnosed annually with non-melanoma skin cancer. Most BCCs can be cured by topical therapy, surgery, radiotherapy, or a combination thereof. Advanced BCC, however, often causes significant disfigurement and morbidity with associated physical and psychological sequelae, because BCC occurs commonly in sun-exposed areas such as the face. Further, a small proportion of these cancers are metastatic and not amenable to typical therapy. Near all BCCs are associated with aberrant hedgehog (Hh) signaling, which stimulates unregulated cell growth, and several therapeutic Hh inhibitors have proved useful in treating BCC. Unfortunately, about 20% of BCCs develop resistance to current Hh inhibitors, usually via Hh pathway reactivation by mutations that either interfere with the drug binding pocket, increase Hh signaling activity, or act through concurrent copy number changes in suppressor genes. Patients will benefit from the development of well-tolerated agents that overcome these resistance pathways by, for example, targeting proteins downstream in relevant signaling pathways.